Cutting boards are commonly used to provide a suitable surface for food preparation. Cutting boards protect the underlying surface from being damaged while simultaneously protecting the knife or similar instrument from becoming dull too quickly. In addition, a cutting board can provide a portable surface that can be removed to a sink and cleaned separately and thoroughly, whereas other surfaces, such as a kitchen countertop, may not provide adequate protection and cannot be as quickly or easily cleaned.
A significant disadvantage to conventional cutting boards is that not all cutting jobs require the same size cutting board. In order to be of sufficient size for many cutting jobs, cutting boards can become too large for convenient cleaning, storage, and transportation. Additionally, it may be impractical to use such large boards for smaller and more delicate cutting jobs. As a result, a variety of boards in different sizes and proportions must often be kept on hand. However, the keeping of a number of different sized boards creates additional storage and transportation problems. Additionally, it is more costly for a manufacturer to produce boards of varying sizes.
One solution to this problem is to have a modular cutting board system comprising multiple connectable boards of the same size, so that cutting space can be varied according to the needs of a particular cutting job and storage inconvenience is minimized. U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,519 provides a cutting board arrangement using multiple boards. Each board has a recess in one side edge and a projection in the opposing side edge to permit frictional interlocking and removal of the boards from engagement with one another. However, frictional interlocking of this nature does not allow the board to stay connected if it needs to be moved in its expanded condition, especially if a food item with any substantial weight is being supported.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,841 provides another modular cutting board. Each board section has a keyed tongue disposed along a first edge and a keyhole groove disposed along a second edge such that when engaged, a single, rigid board is formed. The cutting board segments, however, can only be connected side to side, not also end to end, which limits the ability to adapt to different cutting needs. Another disadvantage of the above cutting board arrangements is that they are not easily transportable.